


Train trouble

by Wrathofscribbles



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 16:08:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16726623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wrathofscribbles/pseuds/Wrathofscribbles
Summary: He still has Issues with them.





	Train trouble

**Author's Note:**

> **Big bold reminder that Final Fantasy XV and all of its content is property of Square Enix.** I just like to play in the sandpit they've created for the fans.
> 
> This is written from Prompto's POV

It's a rush of bodies, all like zombies, shambling out of the doors as they hiss open and bumping into each other as they move in uniform lines across the platform.  Coffee and pastry and an early morning's regret a noxious cloud around them and it makes my head spin to breathe it in and remember another time, another train, another crowd.

That man, there, with the ink all over his hands.  Is the stain black... or is it red?  Is he stumbling because he's still sleepy, or because he's just been shot?  The hissing clanks from the train - are we sure they're not MTs hidden in the carriages waiting for us?

That lady there with the black thread through her jumper.  How do we know it's not Scourge?  How do we know she won't rip her face off and snap a mouthful of fangs at us when we turn our backs, pluck out our kidneys with finger bones whittled into claws?

The crowd parts around us, breaking formation, and even though I feel the rush of body heat I still see the uncoordinated jerking of mechanical limbs.  If I look at their faces I see red lenses glowing back at me and I can't tell if I've been staring at the sunrise too long or maybe the blinding beam of the fog lights or  _what_ but it's not human eyes until I blink and blink and blink and shake my head and look again and some of them tilt their heads at me, confusion and concern in their expression before the press of bodies behind forces them onward.

I can't do this, I can't get on board, I can't move the lead weight of my legs one step further, I can't, I can't, what if it starts snowing?  What if there's ice on the tracks?  What if Niflheim still have airship carriers they haven't declared?  What if  _Ardyn's there I can't go back, not again -_

_"Prompto,"_ you say, soft as a whisper, your hand on my shoulder and your body tucked in close to mine, shielding me from the stragglers running late and bolting after the main crowd.  "Prompto," you say again and fit your palm to mine, your fingers through mine, and I never saw you smile last time but you're smiling now and when you take a step forward I follow, I'll always follow, I told you didn't I?   _Ever at your side_.

"It's okay, Prompto.  I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere," you say and there's a promise in those words, a sincerity for my ears only and I still can't draw breath properly but - but this isn't how we boarded the last train.  This is our  _choice_ now, isn't it?  We can go wherever we want, we can get off at the next stop instead of going straight through to Tenebrae and -

I didn't break, back then.  Even when I was beaten and bloodied and bruised and thrown to the wolves like a sack of raw meat, I didn't break.  I was strong enough then, I'm strong enough now.

And you're with me this time, with your steady hand and the magic twining around our wrists as comforting and  _home_ as Umbra's slobbery licks in the morning, and your smile, and the age crinkling at the corners of your eyes.  We're not helpless in the face of an unknown destiny anymore and we don't have ancient vengeance breathing down our necks.

"You want to try this?"  You ask, one final time, one last check and - I take that step up into the carriage, grip your hand tight and squeeze it until your bones should surely break.

"I've got this," I say, and for the first time in years I mean it.

We board the train together.

 


End file.
